Riverdale, N.Y. – College of Mount Saint Vincent junior James Zuccaro (Gilbert, Ariz.) led three Dolphins in double-figures with 20 points as the Men's Basketball team snapped a four game losing streak with a 65-61 Skyline Conference victory over Maritime on Wednesday night.
 
Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) and Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) got the Dolphins off to a 5-0 start in the opening moments on Wednesday and held the lead in the first half until a Ron Bethea triple pushed Maritime in front 13-12 at the 11:32 mark.
 
The Dolphins would answer with a 16-2 run over a six minute stretch to grab a 28-15 lead, its largest advantage of the night. Senior Stephen Oliver (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sparked the run with three triples.
 
Maritime would rally over the final four minutes of the first half to get back to within 34-29 after 20 minutes. Thomas Davis would hit a three-pointer for the Privateers and they knocked down six free-throws in a 14-6 half closing run.
 
Both teams shot better then 40-percent from the floor in the first half, with Mount Saint Vincent knocking down five more field goals and one more three-pointer. Maritime outscored the Mount 7-1 from the free-throw line, with T-Vaughn Gibson going 3-for-4 from the line on his way to seven points.
 
Zuccaro led all scorers at the break with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and also hauled in five rebounds. The Dolphins shot 43.8-percent as a unit and outrebounded Maritime 23-12 overall and 9-1 on the offensive end.
 
Out of the break, the Dolphins opened a 40-31 lead after a Fraser bucket at the 17:50 mark and held a two possession lead until a Danny Boyle triple got Maritime back to within three points with 13:55 left.
 
The Mount would build the lead back to seven after a personal 4-0 run from Zuccaro, but could not grab a lead any larger until inside of four minutes to play.
 
A Kevin Blohm triple for the Privateers back to 53-51 with just under eight minutes left, but an 8-1 spurt from the Dolphins keyed by four points from Zuccaro got the Mount some breathing room at 61-52 with 3:33 on the clock.
 
The visitors used a final 8-0 run over nearly three minutes to slice their deficit to 61-60 in the final 35 minutes, but two free-throws each from Sean Caputo (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Oliver sealed the league win for the Mount.
 
The Dolphins finished the night shooting 45.3-percent overall, but did not hit a three-pointer after halftime. Maritime finished up at 35.3-percent after shooting just 31-percent after halftime.
 
Zuccaro rounded out the night 8-for-17 from the floor overall and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line on his way to scoring at least 20 points in a game for the fifth time. He also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out two assists.
 
Fraser went 6-for-8 from the field and added seven boards for the Mount, while Oliver netted 11 points on the strength of 3-for-6 shooting from behind the arc.
 
D'Andre McPhatter (Bronx, N.Y.) added seven points and five caroms, with Caputo turning in a strong night with six points, six rebounds and game-high five assists.
 
Mount Saint Vincent outrebounded Maritime in the game 44-29 overall and doubled the Privateers up on the offensive glass, 14-7. The Dolphins held a 26-18 edge in paint points on Wednesday and a 15-7 edge in second chance scoring.
 
The win gets Mount Saint Vincent to 6-16 overall and to 4-11 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will look for back-to-back wins for the first time since December 4 and 5 on Saturday when they host Mount Saint Mary. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m.